When President Salva Kiir and the First Vice President Dr Riek Machar penned a ceasefire deal in 2018, parties who midwifed the process envisaged a compulsory restructuring of governance to usher the country into a democracy. But the revitalised peace accord did not contemplate the eventualities that change in allegiance would bring to the Permanent Ceasefire and Transitional Security Arrangement.
Appearing harmless and politically conventional, defection could be presenting a daunting task to the implementation actors. It is one of those grey areas that have triggered an alarm from Reconstituted Joint Monitoring and Evaluation Commission (R-JMEC).
Commission Interim Chairperson Charles Gituai lamented the trend saying it could ruin permanent ceasefire and sufficient resources devoted to training of joint forces. According to RJMEC, the defections could stifle the unification process and this will only translate into more roadblocks.
“These growing defections and intercommunal violence could destabilise the permanent ceasefire, insufficient resources devoted to the training and redeployment of the NUF, with potential to derail unification.” RJMEC’s report partly read.
Camp shifting True to RJMEC’s fears, the country’s slow implementation of the peace deal has been characterised by certain political defections. Since 2019, the joint integration process has witnessed number of shift in allegiances mainly from Dr. Riek Machar’s led SPLA-IO to SSPDF, making forces integration processes a little difficult and general R-ARCSS implementation challenging.
Close to 100 senior SPLA-IO generals have so far shifted allegiance to President Kiir’s led SSPDF since 2019. Among these people are Lt. Gen. James Kong, former SPLA-IO deputy Chief of Staff for Administration and Finance. Others included Maj. Gen. James Ochan Puot, Mundri sector six deputy commander in chief Gen. Barnaba Malesh (Western Equatoria State) and recently Gen. Moses Lokujo in Morobo which resulted in ceasefire violation between September and December 2020.
“SSPDF has neither confirmed nor denied that Maj. Gen. Lokujo and his forces are members of SSPDF. Attacks on the SPLA-IO by Maj. Gen. Lokujo have seriously hampered the implementation of transitional security arrangement of the areas of Kajo-keji and Panyume,” RJMEC notes in its January 2021 report, as the commission condemned attacks in Central Equatoria.
Over 25,000 joint forces at training centres across the country that completed training months ago were yet to be graduated. This is a process that may continue stalling given the toxic environment the defection could be creating in the training camps. Even though RJMEC has raised an alarm, the defectors enjoy the protection of the law. The revitalised peace agreement is in harmony with the interim constitution 2011, which in turn supports respect for fundamental freedoms and rights.
What the law says The interim constitution of South Sudan guarantees freedom of assembly and association for all citizens. The law leaves R-JMEC arguments at the discretion of the defectors to heed but on moral grounds. Article 25 (1) of the South Sudan interim constitution 2011 as amended provides that every person shall have the right to freedom of association with others, including the right to form or join political parties, association and trade or professional union for the protection of his or her interests.